Gender Activists’ Exploitation of Autism

by CASEY RYAN

Gender activists who promote the idea that a person can be born in the wrong body are increasingly preying on a vulnerable population whose members are more likely to seek social acceptance.

People with autism spectrum disorder often struggle to recognize and respond to social cues that keep the wheels of day-to-day interactions and relationships spinning. As a result, individuals with autism are frequently drawn to those who are willing to provide them with the warmth and acceptance often missing from their social lives.

This lack of acceptance combines with a yearning to belong with their peers to create the perfect target for gender activists and ideologues spreading their destructive ideology.

And they’re growing bolder.

One example is Seven Dimensions Behavioral Health, which provides applied-behavioral-analysis services to several school districts, including Jeffco Public Schools and the Poudre School District in Colorado. The purpose of this therapy is to help socialize autistic children and improve their communication skills to function normally in society.

Sounds harmless enough, right?

Despite specializing in therapy for autistic children, however, the organization recently hosted a “drag story hour” with drag queens who use the vulgar names “Brennan Sexyback” and “Jacques Strapp.” Seven Dimensions Behavioral Health explicitly pushed a drag event for autistic children, knowing the vulnerability of this population.

There are more well-known national organizations that openly target autistic children.

Gender Spectrum is known for providing chat rooms for children as young as ten who identify as “trans” and “non-binary.” The group has multiple pages online labeled “Gender and Autism” specifically targeting autistic individuals.

Gender Spectrum also recently announced transgender activist Diamond Stylz, whose Twitter account was once labeled “CriticalHoeTheory,” as a keynote speaker at a symposium the organization is hosting. In a tweet dated June 12, this speaker stated that “I follow academics, queers, and hoes” before listing other topics and sexual activities that populate her Twitter account’s homepage. This is a speaker for a group that targets autistic children.

The Trevor Project is another nationally recognized organization that targets autistic children with LGBTQ issues. The Trevor Project has a resource guide titled “Supporting LGBTQ Young People with Disabilities” that explicitly states that it “publishes research on the mental health of LGBTQ young people,” including for “autistic LGBTQ youth.” The organization published a report in 2022 titled “Mental Health Among Autistic LGBTQ Youth,” in which it stated that 3 percent of children and adolescents are diagnosed with autism. However, it then added that “the prevalence of autism among individuals with gender dysphoria is estimated to be between 6%-25%.”

Overall, the Trevor Project reported, “5% of LGBTQ youth have been diagnosed with autism,” and “35% suspect they might be autistic.” These are much higher rates of autism than in the population at large. “Although data from our non-probability sample are unable to estimate national prevalence rates, the findings align with scholarship suggesting that the rates of autistic individuals appear to be higher among LGBTQ people,” the organization concluded.

In light of all this, leaders at the Trevor Project must know that their efforts are targeting easily impressionable children but continue their misguided activism anyway. Other organizations, too, have published a plethora of reports in recent years documenting a correlation between autism and the rise in LGBTQ identities among children.

The United Kingdom–based group Transgender Trend reported last year that 48 percent of people referred to the U.K.’s Tavistock and Portman Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) “either have a diagnosis of, or show traits of Autism.” GIDS is described as a service “for children and young people” and is part of the U.K.’s National Health Service.

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